BAOW! Barrel Aged Oatwine
Surly Brewing Company

Bottled on 6/11/2018, Back door special from local liquor store dumpster. Popped in my mouth like a bottle of champagne, great head.

Would rather drink a natty daddy, but this gave me a better buzz.

 

 

750 ml bottle into a tulip snifter. Bottled 6/11/18, had 6/13/20.

Started off as a real gusher. After the fire drill to clean up and it calmed down... Pours a cloudy orange, with a two and a half inch head of creamy foam with great retention and a decent amount of foamy lacing. Aromas of rye whiskey, malt, toffee, spices, some cherries, light vanilla, wheat as it warms. More or less the same flavors- caramel, rye whiskey, malt, spices, some vanilla and cherries, light wheat. Smooth, a very good medium body, well carbonated on the high side (ahem).

While it does somewhat lack intensity in the flavor, it’s pretty good overall. Solid aromas and flavors, good barrels that are tempered for the lighter style. Very enjoyable. I bought this a week ago at 25% off, so it only had a little bit of a high price point.

Slightly clouded, bronzish-colored, with an ample serving of off-whitish, creamy-toned head.

In the nose: All kinds of complexities. Caramel. Oak. Toffee. Vanilla. Fruit. Whiskey-a-Go-go. Cherries. Richness and ridiculousness.

In the mouth: Mmmm. Sweet stuff. Big and bold stuff. Barrel aged goodness unleashed. Boom, boom, boom, boom. All that barrel-aged flavor comes spilling out.

Mmmm. Interesting. In previous years, this style of beer would be a collaboration with some metal band and the name would be a tribute to an ancient goat-headed behemoth. Now, the name is an acronym turned onomatopoeia, turned into an homage to the Batman TV Show of 1966. I don't not like that. The beer even came with a one-page comic strip origin of BAOW!

It's getting mellower and mellower as we go further, and the richness is less large and frightening, more smooth and silky. More caramel, tobacco, leather, lushness. Sweetness. Decadence. Mmm, mm, yeah. It's a delicious treat that can't be beat. So much slick and smooth, rich, toasty, malty, Delightful.

 

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a large snifter glass. Bottled June 11th 2018.

A very foamy looking top, off white almost yellow in color with khaki looking appearances. A dark orange body color, with a bit of carbonation actually as well.

Interesting aroma. Fruity forward, and a hint of tart, comes off like very tart marmalade. A bit oaky, almost too much that it slips into a bit buttery territory (not diacetyl). Touches a bit of peach and apricot, but in the tart jammy way. A good solid flavor, but a bit bold.

Palate takes a bit of a lighter than expected turn. A bit of a wet body, lacking in some of the oak roundness and feel, but not the flavor. Solid fruit mix of apricot and marmalade jam on first sip. Washes away a bit too fast and fleeting unfortunately. Buttery oak flavors on the finish, provide a little bit more lift to the watery palate, and even a touch of sweetness to balance also. There's a hint of creamy flavor, but also some wet peppery carbonation which is not the greatest mix.

Not the greatest, some very nice developed flavors of fruit, but it doesn't come off as a barrel aged brew with much depth unfortunately.

 

I usually really enjoy the beers surly makes. This one is not one of the best I have had. While it did grow on me as I drank it. At first it had a somewhat medical taste to the ale.

I have really enjoyed the oat wines I have had in the past, give a good bright twist to the wheatwine style. I have also enjoyed surly's experiments in the past. This was not one of those beers. Tasted like boozy and soapy sawdust with orange and barley thrown together. Yuck! Smell isn't much better with weird charred wood coming through on the finish with hops. Feel is ok, medium to light bodied, with graininess and crispness on finish.

A-Pours a clear golden amber color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma had pleasant whiske hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a subdued whiskey flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A nice whiskey oatmeal beer

There is what appears to be an etching on the shoulder of the bottle, about an inch above the label in the center: "BOTTLED ON 06/11/18 F4100"

Appearance: The body of the beer is a hazy medium shade of light gold and brown with orange and umber. It has a short creamy white head that has good retention.

Aroma: The beer has an aroma that extends well past the glass. It smells like sour fruit and cherries. As the nose gets closer to the glass it has a very strong sour aroma with notes of over-ripe raspberry and strawberry. It smells a lot more like sour beer than one of the malt wine variety. It doesn't really fit.

Taste: Up front there is a lot of oak and a slightly tangy character. In the middle there is a bit of spruce and a touch of a red wine vinegar. While drinking the beer there are times where this juniper berry flavor will come through and times where it will feel a bit minty. It is an interesting beer.

Mouthfeel: The beer is dry and it has a good amount of astringency at the end.

Overall: It's an interesting beer. It doesn't feel like a beer that would be sat and enjoyed like a traditional Barleywine or Wheatwine. It feels more like a curiosity beer that would be more palatable in a sample size, a shot glass, or some other low-impact and small form-factor experience. As a full-bottle beer drinking experience this beer is all over the place and seems to really be at odds with itself. The real killer for this beer is its odd sour aroma which detracts greatly from the completely contradictory flavor. It fights the flavor at every turn. That isn't all though; the label states that this "starts with sweet malt flavor - think toffee and pastry" and it would make one think this is some kind of sweet and luxurious dessert beer. Rather than that, there is this odd sour beer that has a ton of wood character and strange woodland plant flavors. Either somebody screwed up this batch or the label writer was drinking something else when they wrote that description. Overall I wouldn't recommend this beer. It does have an interesting character, so if you can try a sample of it somewhere it is worth it. Otherwise leave it be.

 

 

Morning pour. My head hurts.

Pretty poor. Dark translucent amber with a gorgeous head. I miss midwest pours.

Smells incredibly intensely of toffee. Very sweet aroma but no off nodes, no huge rush of booze. Just smells like candy.

Tastes great. Stouty. Toffee up front, caramel middle, burnt barley and a kiss of booze in the back. Weird for sure, but very well composed.

BAOW! pours a dark brownish color, with a nice large, and long lasting head. Big oaky aroma. Flavor is oaky, with a sharp malt undertones, nice hints of whiskey; but watery finish. Watery and light body. Overall, good tasty, unique, but too light and watery.

On tap at surly. This is nothing even close to 8, which was one of my favorite surly beers ever made. Little to no barrel. Little to no body. Little to no flavor. Such a disappointment of a beer that I was very excited for. I feel bad for people that paid $25+ for a bomber.

 

 

 

 

Poured from 750ml bottle into glass. Bottle is marked 'BOTTLED ON 06/12/18'.
Mostly clear, medium amber colored body. Thin off white head sticks around, and leaves behind some lacing.
Barrel notes in the aroma, along with a wine like smell.
Taste is initially a sweeter toffee/caramel flavor, followed by the spicy rye/oak barrel. Has a cherry/vanilla like flavor way at the end. The wine smell inserts itself somehow into the flavor. There is a slightly bitter/tart cherry skin type flavor at the very end.
Quite smooth in mouth feel, medium to slightly full. Good carbonation.
Kind of in the barley wine territory, but this one is with oats and rye. The smooth mouth feel lends itself to sipping and savoring in the mouth.

 

 

 

On tap at the source. Pours a slightly hazy amber with a big head. Strong notes of vanilla, raisins, and caramel in the nose. Similar taste with a boozy taste all around, decent oak presence, and it gets sweeter and fruitier as it warms. Smooth, heavy body. Great sipper and a good beer overall.

Look: bright red-orange, solid head and good lacing for a barrel-aged beer. Aroma: bourbon, oak, prunes and dates, some caramel. Taste: much weaker than the aroma. Some oak, a bitterness that is out of place, oak tannins perhaps. Finish: lingering, off bitterness. Mouthfeel: thin for the style. Comments: it started well, but ended poorly. I can't get over the bitterness. It seems to be covering some good things up.